Translating Inbound Marketing Content: Blogs

November 10, 2015

Inbound marketing is an effective strategy used to attract
customers by providing information relevant to their needs, rather
than reaching out through traditional outbound marketing. The great
content you create is one of the most effective ways to attract
customers. By translating and localizing your content, like blogs,
you will gradually manage not only to generate more leads across
all of your markets, but you will also build a relationship with
your customers by showing that you value each of your target
audiences.

Tips for Translating & Localizing Blogs

Writing relevant, informative content in the form of easy to
read blog posts is an effective way to attract more qualified
website traffic. But in order to reach your targeted personas, it's
crucial to create blogs that your audience can read in their
language.

Localizing, translating and optimizing your blog posts so search
engines can find your content and deliver it to your target
audiences is necessary to gain traffic. In this blog, I will detail
some tips for localizing and translating blog posts.

Capture Attention with the Title

Great consideration is given to writing an engaging
title. It is often the title of your blog that
captures the attention and defines the success or failure of your
blog. Make sure the translation or transcreation keeps the message
that is conveyed in the source language and doesn't change the
meaning since it will make or break your blog

Well-Structured Content

Make sure the blog's translation is easy for your readers to
read, understand and digest. To do this, use short and concise
subtitles, a clear introduction and conclusion, and keep the same
structure of the source content.

Always Localize your Blogs

The British and the Americans have their own vocabulary, their
own expressions, and their own slang so one English blog that isn't
localized won't necessarily make sense for both audiences. This
applies to other languages such as Spanish, French or German. And
this is highly seen when there are cultural differences that go
beyond language, such as holidays, pop culture and other customs.
In order to be culturally correct and appropriate for all languages
and all locales you are targeting, localizing your blogs is highly
recommended.

Localize each piece of the blog content from the images to the
Meta data. Search engines will favor localized blogs that have the
technical information translated as well. See: SEO Best Practices for Blog
Posts for further information.

Identify which keywords or phrases are being targeted and make
sure they are localized for the source language and audience. If
your blog includes CTAs, also localize those with appropriate
phrases, colors and styles.

Summary

Writing blogs is a key approach for inbound marketing strategies
that will increase your traffic, boost your SEO and enhance your
brand's reputation as an industry thought leader. Taking the time
and resources to translate and localize your blogs will help you
attract global audiences and build trust with your customers around
the world.

Further Resources on International Search Engine Marketing(SEM)
including Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine
Advertising (SEA) and Social Media Localization

Global Digital Marketing for multilingual websites or for
content destined for specific locales (country + language +
geography) is more than just translating keywords. Today companies
should work with a combination of owned, earned and bought digital
media in order to drive traffic to their localized or translated
websites. Localization of any media requires in-country native
speaking professionals to copy write and localize content in order
to engage potential customers. Whether you work with a traditional
digital marketing agency, or you are one, GPI's global digital
marketing team can serve as an extension of your in-house digital
marketing department to help you deliver your message around the
world.

For more information on specific topics related to global
digital marketing, you may wish to review some of our previous
blogs:

Please feel free to contact GPI at info@globalizationpartners.com
with any questions about our language and technology services. Also
let us know if you have any interesting blog topics you would like
us to cover in our future blogs. You may request a
complimentary Translation
Quote for your projects as well.

Comments

Natalie Veis Williams - Global Digital Marketing ManagerNatalie was born and raised in the state of Montana, USA where she graduated from The University of Montana with an undergraduate degree in Business Administration. Her international experience includes two summer programs, one at The European Business School in Germany and the other at The University of Brescia in Italy. She studied a variety of global business subjects including international business, trade, culture and language. Key projects for her undergrad studies included meeting with executives from large corporations such as Lufthansa, Opel, and The European Central Bank as well as working with the design team on the marketing plan for the 2015 World Fair in Milan, Italy. She has a range of global event management experience including organization of the Annual Mansfield Conference on the Middle East and the China Town Hall meeting series. Her hobbies include yoga, cooking, reading, being outdoors and traveling.